The Nationals Have Officially Shut Down Stephen Strasburg For The Rest Of The Season

It’s official. The Washington Nationals have shut down young ace Stephen Strasburg for the rest of the season, effective immediately.

Strasburg was supposed to have his final start Wednesday against the Mets, but the team decided to pull the plug earlier than expected. He will finish his season going 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA.

Strasburg sputtered in his final home start last night. He gave up five earned runs over the course of the first three innings against the Marlins. However, the Nationals came back with a crazy rally in the bottom of the 10th and pulled off the victory.

“To be honest with you, I think he was thinking too much about the decision of what we were going to shut him down,” Davey Johnson said. “And he kind wore it like it. … I think he wasn’t focused as much on the game as he was on the impending shutdown. Just he way I read it.”

Strasburg said after the game that the shutdown had no impact on his performance, and that he just didn’t pitch well last night. However, Johnson that Strasburg is “having trouble sleeping, thinking about letting the guys down.”